Quick closing valve



y 18, 1954 T. A. ST. CLAIR QUICK CLOSING VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledJan. 2, 1948 INVENTOR. THEODORE A. SIZCLAIR ATTORNEYS Patented May 18,1954 UNITED STATES AENT QFFICE QUICK CLOSING VALVE Application January2, 1948, Serial No. 185

1 Claim.

This invention relates to quick closing valves suitable for use insystems for handling liquefied petroleum gases in which system liquefiedgases are pumped into a storage tank and out of said tank whendispensing them.

From the standpoint of safety it is essential that all connections toliquefied petroleum gas containers be protected as much as possible fromthe results of mechanical damage. Under a few special circumstances itis entirely possible to assemble the various tank outlets with theirvalves and fittings into a relatively small area and protect theassembly with a heavy guard. However, on most mobile and on somestationary equipment it is necessary to have pipe lines located in areaswhich are vulnerable to breakage through collision. It is standardpractice in the industry, and in many cases required by regulations, toequip each and every connection to the tank with the exception of thesafety relief valve with either an excess flow Valve which willautomatically close when a certain predetermined flow is reached or aback flow check valve which is normally closed and which can only beopened when the pressure in the line is substantially greater than thepresure in the tank. Obviously when back flow check valves are recessedwell within the tank proper so that they will not in themselves bedamaged, very adequate protection against line breakage is afforded.However, excess flow valves are normally open and can only be closedwhen a certain predetermined flow is reached. There are a number ofpractical obstacles which might limit the fiow through an excess flowvalve and prevent its proper functioning. These can all be resolved toterms of pressure drop. For instance, a given fiow will produce a givenpressure drop through the excess flow valve and the tubing. Should thedifferential pressure between the tank and atmosphere be less than thepressure drop in the line the excess flow valve will not close but willcontinue to flow whatever amount this differential pressure will permit.Even with a relatively high tank pressure, a small break in a line mightnot permit an excess flow valve to function since the pressure dropacross the point of breakage might too greatly limit the flow.

The above remarks have been made in the conditional sense, but thesefailures recur all too frequently. The intent of the present inventionis toprovide a normally closed valve which is open only when pumping isin progress, when connections are intact and much less subject tobreakage, but which will quickly close under abnormal conditions cfundesired flow.

The general object of this invention is to provide in several forms asuitable quick closing valve for use in such systems.

Other and more detailed objects of the invention will be apparent fromthe disclosure of several embodiments thereof.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending applicationSerial No. 598,812, filed June 11, 1945, entitled Quick Closing Valveand Storage Tank Containing Same, which issued on January 23, 1951, asPatent No. 2,538,806.

his invention resides substantially in the combination, construction,arrangement and relative location of parts, all as will be described indetail below.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a diagrammatic, elevational view with parts broken away of astorage tank and liquid handling system employing the quick closingvalve of this invention;

Figure 2 is a longitudinal, central, cross-sectional view of one form ofquick closing valve in accordance with this invention;

Figure 3 is a similar view of another form of quick closing valve inaccordance with this invention;

Figure l is a lefthand end elevational view of this valve;

Figure 5 is a longitudinal, central, cross-sectional view of stillanother form of quick closing valve in accordance with this invention;and

Figure 6 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the manual operator forthe valve of Figure 2.

In order to fully understand the functions and advantages of the quickclosing valves herein claimed a description of the system of Figure l inwhich such valves are used is deemed necessary.

Referring to Figure 1, the tank 6 is provided for storing liquefied gas1- and such vapors 8' as may be released therein. As illustrated tank 6may be provided with a vapor pressure relief valve 9 preferably locatedso as to draw .vapor from the vapor space of the whenever the pressurein the tank exceeds a pre determined safe value, and vent this vaporthrough line l2 to the atmosphere. A drain valve l3 may be provided todrain away any liquids which may collect in line [2. Vapor may also bewithdrawn from or added to the vapor space 8 by line it through anexcess flow valve l6 and a shut-off valve I! which may lead to anothertank (not shown) connected to coupling l8. Be fore disconnectingcoupling 18 it is customary to bleed off the gas between valve i1 andcoupling 18 through the bleed valve I9 provided for this tank throughline H- purpose. Tank 6 may also be provided with any suitable type ofliquid level gauge 2|, the type shown being a magnetic type gauge forwhich there is no opening through the tank wall. Instead in the wall ofthe tank is a brass plate through which float 22 transmits the level ofliquid 7 by means of a linkage 23 which includes the permanent magnetthe field of which moves the steel indicating needle of gauge 2| throughthe brass plate (not shown). When any other type of liquid level gaugeis used the usual protective devices commonly employed therewith wouldbe used. The pressure in tank 6 may be measured by a pressure gauge 24in the line, to which may be provided the usual shut-off valve 25 andthe usual excess flow valve 26.

Valves 9, i6, 26 and 27 (to be referred to later) are shown inside oftank 6 and they are actually mounted inside this tank or in a wallpocket of the tank so that they cannot be sheared elf or otherwisedamaged. It is also customary to provide a protective housing or guardring (not shown) for such exterior elements as valves l3, l'i, 25 and 28and 29 (to be referred to later), but this protective housing may beeliminated, and has therefore not been shown.

A pressure relief valve such as the valve 9 is of the type that permitstransmission of fluid therethrough when a predetermined diiferentialpressure exists across the valve. The excess flow valve l6 may be likethe valve of Figure l of United States patent to Thomas No. 2,121,936granted June 28, 1938, or any standard excess flow valve. It remainsopen until a predetermined rate of flow exists through it, whereupon itcloses. Some excess flow valves shut off the flow completely but mayhave a bleed passage allowing very minute flow for pressure equalizationso that the spring may reopen the valve. The check valve 21 permits flowin one direction only, as indicated by the arrow.

The elements 9 to 26 inclusive do not form any part of the inventionherein claimed but may be employed advantageously in systems of thistype for which the valves herein disclosed have been devised.

When the modification of such systems which employ a liquid return lineis used there is preferably included in this liquid return line 3i thecheck valve 2'! and the cut-01f valve 28. The valves of this inventionmay be used in modifications of this system where a liquid return line Mis not employed, in which case, of course, valves 21 and 28 areeliminated.

A manually operated and quick closing valve combination 29, 32, severalmodifications of which are herein disclosed, is mounted in the wall oftank 6 by means of the threaded coupling 34 which in the valvesillustrated forms an integral part of this valve.

Before completing the description of the system of Figure 1 a detaileddescription of the structures of Figures 2 and 6 is desirable. The quickclosing valve 29, 32 comprises a housing 29 of which the threadedextension provides the coupling member 34 by means of which this valveis mounted in the tank wall. This threaded extension 34 is joined to thehousing by a portion 34 of reduced diameter providing a point ofstructural weakness such that accidental forces large enough to shearthe housing 10 from the threaded portion 34 will cause breakage at thegroove 34' without injury or rendering inoperative the quick closingportion 32 of the valve 4 which projects into the tank 6, as shown inFigure 1.

The housing 1!] is provided with a lateral extension forming a passagetliereinto, which is threaded at its outer end at T2 to receive a pipeconnection. At the lefthand of the cavity formed by the housing 10 is athreaded passage 73 in which is mounted a strainer unit 50 of anysuitable construction forming an enclosure for the strainer element 14and having a pipe connection member 15. The cavity in the housing 70 isformed, at one end as a cylinder in which a piston '16 mounted on apiston rod 18 may operate. Attached on the piston rod and associatedwith the piston is a strainer pad ll. Threadedly mounted in the housing10 at the other end of the cavity formed thereby is a tubular extension36 which is so constructed as to form an internal seat for a valve discattached to a valve disc retainer 79. Piston rod' 18 rests against, butis not secured to the valve disc retainer 19. A spring BI is arranged inthe tubular extension 36 so as to load the valve disc retainer andnormally hold the valve disc 86 on its seat and all of the partsconnected to the retainer 19 in the position shown. The end of thetubular extension 38 beyond the valve disc seat is provided with aseries of apertures as shown so that fluid may enter it. The end of theextension is provided with a well and bore to guide the movements of theretainer 7!).

With regard to the manual operator for the piston assembly its detailsof construction are more clearly apparent from Figure 6. Within anextension of the housing (ii is a longitudinally movable plunger 83having a sliding fit with a bushing 81. Mounted on the plunger 83 is aspring retaining collar 85 and a wiper 86. Lying between these elementsis a compression spring 84. The wiper 86 rests against axial projectionson the end of the bushing 81, as will be seen from Figure 6. Encirclingthe plunger 83 at its right hand headed end is an 0 seal ring 88 andmounted in a groove on the plunger within the bushing is another 0 sealring 89. Finally, there is an 0 seal ring 90 surrounding the bushing atits inner headed end. As is clear from Figure 6, the bushing 51 isthreadedly mounted in the valve housing and when screwed up tightlyagainst the O sealing ring 98 there is formed a fluidtight seal at thispoint. The O sealing ring 88 is clamped between the headed end of theplunger 83 and the end of bushing 8'! under the pressure exerted byspring 84 on the plunger 83, forming a fluidtight seal at this point. An0 ring 89 is provided in an annular groove in plunger 83 to seal againstthe inside of bushing 89. The end of the plunger extends exteriorly ofthe housing It in a position to'be engaged by a cam 82 pivotally mountedon a transverse pivot pin 82 mounted in a pair of extensions on thehousing ill, as shown. An operating handle 45 is secured to the cam 82..

Returning to Figure 1, it'will be seen that the cavity in housing it isin communication with the liquid eduction line 37 attached in thethreaded port '52 of the valve housing. In the line 31 is a cut-offvalve 33. Included in line 3? is a strainer 39 which may be providedwith a drain plug ii in accordance with the usual practice. Line 31'extends to the intake side of the pump 42 which may be of any of theusual type of liquid pumps.

The liquid supply line 43 may be attached to the line 3'! and have theusual coupling to provide means for attaching it to the liquid source.In the line d3 there is preferably employed a check valve 4'6, ashut-off valve 41 and a bleed valve 48.

Attached to the discharge side of pump 42 is a dispensing line 439which, of course, can be considered as a portion of return line 31.Connected in the line s5 is a pressure relief valve 5'! which may beprovided with a vent pipe 58 to vent liquids or vapors to the atmospherewhen a predetermined pressure in line 59 is reached.

Line 49 is connected to the housing '10 of valve 29 through line it andthe filter 59. Line as is also provided with a liquid return line 3!containing a shut-off valve 5| and a by-pass line 52 in which ispreferably employed the pressure relief valve 53. Connected to line 49on the discharge side of pump 42 is a surge chamber 54 having a cut-offvalve 56 by means of which gases may be inserted or removed from chamber54 where they act as a shock absorber for pulsations created by pump 2.

The pressure in line is can be measured by a pressure gauge 59 connectedthereto by a branch which includes the excess shut-oil valve 6 l.

Line all which is the dispensing line is provided with an extension 63preferably including a shutoli valve 64 and a coupling 56 to which aflexible hose 6! be attached. Included in this hose is a check valve '4l, a cut-off valve cc and a coupling 88 forming the terminal thereof.

The operation of this system will now be described. Tank 6 may be filledwith liquid without using a pump by connecting a liquid source ofsuincient pressure to the coupling 44. With valves i l and 38 open theliquid will pass through line 43, valve ll, check valve 46, line 3?,valve 38, cavity of valve 29, through valve 85 which is unseated by thepressure, which valve will of course immediately close when the supplyof liquid to line i3 is cut oil and that line is vented through valve58. This is the procedure which would normally be used for filling thetank.

In order to fill the valve 38 is closed. A source of liquid is attachedto coupling lll. Valves 28, ll and El are open. Valves it, 56 and G l,of course, remain closed. Pump it is started and liquid passes throughcoupling $4, open valve strainer as, pump 42, line 49, line 31!, valve5|, valve 28, and check valve 21 into the tank.

Liquid is dispensed while employing the return line 3I as follows.Valves l1, 5% and iii are closed while valves 28, 38 and El are open.Pump d2 is started and when employing valve 29 of Figure 2, lever ismoved to the left which opens valve 86 through the agency of plunger 83.Liquid is then drawn through valve 81; into the cavity of housing it, toline 3'? and thence through strainer 39 to pump t2 and from there intoline it, and from there back into the tank through line 3| and valves5i, 2% and 2'1. The pressure in line 49 will force liquid through lineit and filter be into the cylinder in housing "it behind piston '16which will hold valve 28 open so that the handle can be released. Inorder to dispense liquid from line A?! valve 5i is closed. When thepressure in line 49 rises to the desired dispensing pressure the liquidwhich tends to create a higher pressure will be by-passed through therelief valve 53 and branch 52 to the tank through valves 28 and 21. Thesystem is now ready for dispensing liquid and coupling 63 may be securedto the tank into which the liquid is to be dispensed. Valve 59 is flowvalve 62 and the tank with liquid by pumping ll, check valve 46,

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then opened followed by the opening of valve 54, thus dispensing liquidinto the tank to be filled. The gas pressure in the upper part of surgetank 50, will absorb the pressure pulsations of pump 42. Pressure reliefvalve 51 prevents breakage of line 49 but is not essential to a usefulsystem as excess pressure will be relieved through the valve 53, aspreviously explained. Guage Bil gives a visible indication of thepressure conditions inline 49.

When the tank to be filled is full, valves 69- and 6 3 are closed. Thepump is stopped and valve 5| is opened, whereupon the pressure in line49 falls to tank pressure, and 01 course, the pressure in line falls toa similar value so that spring 8i (Fig. 2) will close the valve 88.

The operation of this system is the same without the use of the returnline 3i which operation results if valve 28 is closed, provided thatpump 22 is so constructed that a pressure great enough to open reliefvalve 5'! or to break line it cannot be generated, or if dispensingconduit coupling 58' is already attached to the tank to be filled andvalves 55. and 59 are open. Under this operation when the tank to befilled is full the pump is stopped and valves 64 and 69 are closed. Thepressure in lines 4Q and so will then be insufiicient to hold the valve88 open against the action of spring at.

The construction of the valve of Figures 3 and 4 will now be described.As shown, this valve comprises a. housing 91 which is provided with acap secured thereon by the bolts 99 and containing a cylinder IllI. Oneend of this cylinder is closed by a flexible diaphragm I02 held in placeby the cap. In the cylinder II)! is a piston I03 having a piston rod Hi4engaging the head 02 valve 92. The other end of the piston I93 has anextension Itt which may be engaged by a. plunger 161. This plunger isnormally held away from the extension IGB by a spring I08 and isprovided with a push button I89 for manual engagement. The cylinder lOIis provided with the threaded pressure fluid port 13, as before. Thehousing 5'! has a tubular extension 32 integral in this case with thethreaded connection 34 which joins the main housing at the fracturegroove 35 as before. The extension 32 is closed by means of an aperturedbushing I00 which guides the stem of valve 92. A compression spring 8|normally engages this valve on its seat and this valve is provided witha free passage 93.

This valve is of course tOnbB' substituted for the valve 29 of Figure lwith pipe 31 connecting the threaded port 82, pipe 4E; connecting thethreaded port 13, preferably with the inclusion of the strainer 58 atthe connection.

In the operation of the system using this valve the procedure is the asthat described when the valve was initially operated by lever 45. Inthis case the equivalent button I09 is pushed forcing valve 92 off itsseat.

Referring to Figure 5, this modification of the valve 29 includes ahousing IIII having the threaded outlet port 82. This housing forms achamber H2 in which is disposed a piston II3. The chamber H2 has aninlet H4 and a pressure inlet II5. A diaphragm of flexible material IIBforms one end of chamber H2 and is. secured in place by a cap Ill havinga pivot pin H8 mounted thereon. A slidable pin H9 is mounted in the capIi! and is provided to operate piston I I3 by pressure on diaphragm IIS. A lever pivotally mounted on the pin H8 is arranged to actuate thepin H9. The stop pin I22 is pro-- vided to limit the outward movement oflever I2I under the force of the return spring I23.

The other end of the housin is provided with the threaded couplingextension 34 and weakness groove 34' as before. It is provided with acap I 24 fOIlIliIlg a chamber I26 having openings I21 and I28. Valveseat I29 is provided at the end of the threaded extension 34 on which aquick closing valve head I 3! may seat to close inlet H4. Valve head I3Iis urged to its seat by spring I32 and the valve head is provided with afacing material I33 of aresilient nature suitable for a valve which isretained in place by a plate I34 and screw I36. Valve head I3I has avalve stem I 3'! toguide it in its movement. When this valve is used inthe system of Figure 1, it is of course screwed into the tank as before,line 37 is connected to the inlet port 82, and line 40 is connected tothe threaded port II 5 which line may include a filter as before, ifdesired.

The operation of the system of Figure 1 when the valve of Figure 5 issubstituted for valve 29 of Figure 1, in a manner apparent in view ofthe previous. description of the operation of valves 29 and 91 is quitethe same.

As to all modifications, should the quick closing valve such as thevalve 29 be sheared off at the weakness groove 34', the quick closingvalve head 32 will remain in place and will prevent the escape of liquidfrom the tank. Valve 80 in the case of Figure 2, and valve I3I in thecase of Figure 5 will completely close the tank while valve 92 of Fig. 3will substantially close it as very little liquid will bleed out throughopening 93.

With reference to the valve of Figure 2 as supplemented by Figure 6, itis to be noted that the seal at the operating plunger 83 is differentfrom the structure used to seal the valves of Figures 3 and 5 where thediaphragms I02 and H6 are employed. In the arrangement of Figures 2 and6 the seal is effected by means of the three 0 rings previouslydescribed.

In view of the above description it will be apparent that the quickclosing valves which comprise the subject matter of this invention arecapable of modification as indicated by the three 7 rod slidably mountedforms thereof herein illustrated. Further modification is possible, andI do not, therefore, desire to be limited by the disclosure but only asrequired by the claim granted me.

What is claimed is:

A quick closing valve comprising a housing forming a chamber, a cylinderat one end and an inlet spaced therefrom, means forming a seat at saidinlet, said housing having an outlet for said chamber intermediate saidcylinder and said inlet, a spring loaded valve for engaging said seat tonormally close said inlet, a piston in said cylinder movable to unseatsaid valve, and manual means to unseat said valve comprising a headedpush in an opening in one end of said cylinder, an O sealing ringmounted on said push rod and lying between the headed end thereof andthe said end of the cylinder, a spring normally urging said push rod ina direction to compress said 0 sealing ring, and a flanged bushingthreadedly mounted in said push rod opening and surrounding said rod andan 0 seal ring lying between the flange of said bushing and said end ofsaid cylinder to form a seal, and a manually operated member mounted onsaid housing and operable to urge said push rod into engagement withsaid piston.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 80,066 Gibson July 21, 1858 312,077 Bowen Feb. 10, 18851,032,470 Denneen July 16, 1912 1,136,606 Loyd Apr. 20, 1915 1,339,798Thompson May 11, 1920 1,373,599 Clark Apr. 5, 1921 1,381,765 ThompsonJune 14, 1921 1,473,303 Lightford Nov. 6, 1923 1,633,642 Kramer June 28,1927 1,692,296 Godsey Nov. 20, 1928 1,957,567 Williams May 8, 19342,322,517 Hose June 22, 1943 2,538,806 St. Clair Jan. 23, 1951 2.563.244Holicer Aug. 7. 1951

